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PENNSYLVANIA 



Ff]MALE COLLEGE, 



■T\\ 



^[^[sD^iiyKe. 



-« ■♦»» ► 



y 

c^ ADDRESS OF J. II. TYSON, LL. D., 

[of PHILADELPHIA.] 



J^' 



1571 
9 
py 1 



ADDRESS 



AT THE 



iriEST MiuAi, €®i»ieiiigii 



OF THE 



PEMSILVANIA FEMALE COLLEGE, 






AT 



/ 

By J. R. TYSON, L.L. D. 



^ HARRISBURG: 

1854. 






\to1^ 



A BOYD HAMILTON, Printer, 

""^^oMarJict Street, Ilarnsburg. 



S©lEEiF©IB]II§l. 



Haueisburg, July 17, 18n4. 
Job R. Tyson, LL.D., Philadelphia : 

Dear Sir : On behalf of the Board of Trustees of the " Pennsyl- 
vania Female College, at Harrisburg," I transmit to you a copy of 
a resolution passed at our meeting on the loth instant, expressing 
our high appreciation of your Address, and soliciting a copy thereof 
for publication. 1 trust you will comply with the request, that your 
excellent, and to the present age and time, very appropriate Address 
may be placed in a permanent form ; as a part of the teaching of our 
young, yet highly prosperous and promising Institution. 

" Resolved, That the thanks of this Board are hereby tendered to 
our fellow Trustee, the Hon. Job R. Tyson, LL. D., for his very ap- 
propriate and eloquent Address, delivered in the Hall of the House 
of Representatives, on Tuesday evening last, on the occasion of the 
first commencement of the ' Pennsylvania Female College, at Har- 
risburg,' and that he be requpsted to furnish a copy thereof for 
publication." 

Very respectfully and truly Yours, 

BEN.l. PARKE. 



Philadelphia, August 1, 1854-. 
B. Parke, Esq., Harrisburg, Penn. 

Dear Sir : Owing to my absence from town, your note of the 17th 
of last month, did not reach me until some days after its date. In 
compliance with the wish of the Trustees, as expressed in the reso- 
lution you have transmitted to me, I send to you a copy of the Ad- 
dress, as nearly as may be, in the words pronounced. 

From its extemporary character, I should be quite willing to accept 
the resolution with which you have honored me, as a kind compli- 
ment from my Colleagues of the Board, and forego the additional 
honor of appearing in print. In the selection of topics, I sought to 
avoid those which did not seem, at the time, to be quite appropriate to 



4 CORRESPONDENCE. 

the objects ol' your institution. One of these 1 refrained from dis- 
cussing, though of deep and abiding interest to a different class of 
society from that wiiich I addressed. I refer to the limited circle 
and low prices of female employments. 

Home is said to be the true place for a woman. But what is to be 
done Avith the seven or eight hundred thousand women and female 
children, in the United States, who have no home ? I believe that open- 
ing a political career to the sex at large, so far from mitigating, would 
greatly aggravate the evil, by augmenting the number of these homeless 
beings. A better remedy perhaps, is to prepare them for such new 
modes of employment as they are fitted to excel in. It is true that 
women are more poorly paid than men, for the same description of 
service. But this is mainly owing, I presume, to the restricted 
number of female occupations, which so crowds these avenues with 
competition, as to lessen the pecuniary estimate or value of the 
competitors. 

There are many departments for which women are well, nay pecu- 
liarly qualified, but from which they have been hitherto excluded. This 
injustice should be reformed. — I refer to those pursuits in which 
success is less dependent upon bodily strength than upon manual 
dexterity, quickness of eye, or delicacy of taste, the qualities in 
which women excel. For example, several of the fine arts, es- 
pecially engravings the arts of design^ watch-making, and a variety of 
kindred employments, are all essentially jfe/wmzyie. 

If the boundaries of female exertion were more extended and di- 
versified, there would be found among the sex, less hopeless vice 
and less hopeless misery. Hood's Song of the Shirt appeals to the 
knowledge of us all for the truth and fidelity of its sad picture. 

But instead of a simple answer to your note, I have written you a 
long and tiresome letter. Believe me to be. 

Very respectfully, and truly Yours, 

J. R. TYSON. 



Ladies and Gentlemen : — 

I am requested by the Board of Trustees, to say a few 
words to you on the present occasion. I rise rather to 
perform a hasty and inconsiderate promise, than because 
I have any thing either novel or suggestive to offer to 
your thoughtful consideration. I am aware, that the want 
of time or 023portunity forms no excuse for the deficien- 
cies of a .speaker, who chooses to appear before an 
audience like this, composing so large a portion of 
the intelligence, refinement and respectability of the State. 
But I cannot refrain h^om asking your kind mdul- 
gence in return for a short address. Indeed, after 
the protracted but highly interesting exercises of the even- 
ing, it would be neither the dictate of good taste nor of 
good feeling, to detain you much longer together. 

We have met to witness the first annual commencement 
of the Pennsylvania Female College, at Harrisburg. I 
sincerely trust that it has now fairly entered upon a long 
and flourishing career, and that by its high aims, 
it will approve itself an useful and honored seat of 
learning. 

Situated in the Capital of Pennsylvania, fortunate in 
the selection of a judicious and able Principal, and enjoy- 
ing the most favorable auspices, it had a right to look for- 
ward with confident expectations of success. So far, these 
expectations have been well fulfilled. The number of 



6 PENNSYLVANIA 

scholars has steadily increased. Their deportment and 
inii^rovement have been such as to justify the belief, that 
both they and the teachers will redeem all the reasonable 
promises of the Institution. 

The locality of this college at Harrisburg and the pru- 
dent course adopted in its management, encourage the most 
sanguine hoj^es. All that remains for me, is cursorily to 
consider some of the principles upon which it is founded, in 
order to ascertain whether these entitle it to public patron- 
age. 

It must be apparent that a part of the success it has 
already met with, is owing to a jDretty general conviction 
in its favor. I believe that the principles which lie at its 
base, are destined, under Providence, to scatter seeds of 
inappreciable value, and to yield a large harvest of moral 
and social blessings. 

It is one of the glories of om^ free land, that 
such institutions as this have had their origin in 
this country. They have already become numerous. 
No country but ours, could have given them existence. 
The prejudices of society would not permit theln to flourish 
elsewhere. 

It has always been a trait of the American character 
to pay peculiar and voluntary deference to Woman. How- 
ever unattended hy friends, and without the accidental 
advantages of birth, connexions or fortune, she every where, 
in our countr}^, commands precedence, complaisance and 
respect. 

This trait we should diligently foster, as a marked and 
distinguishing charateristic of the American people. It is 
important in all its relations and consequences, because it 
is associated with many social and national virtues. It 




FEMALE COLLEGE. 7 

had its orgiii in the idea that Woman is entitled to it all, 
CIS the weaker vessel, and that, though excluded from the 
public offices of life, she has a part to play which is at 
least as dignified in rank, and quite as indispensible in im- 
portance, as that which is more noticeable or obtrusive. 
To this view of her sphere, governing and controlli/ig the 
unseen and mysterious agencies of existence, we are to 
ascribe the means at work for her improvement and exalta- 
tion. Ruchmental schools founded for her benefit, avenues 
opened for her employment, colleges established for her 
more complete education: — these are all owing to the 
universality of the opinion, that the training of the intellect 
of Woman, and the elevation of her moral liemg, are of the 
highest social concern. 

It does not strike me as philosophical or just, to vreigh 
in an nn^^^wBiQdi popular balance, the comparative dignity of 
domestic and public employments. It is enough to say, that 
nature and reason, the experience of all times, and the 
history of all nations, concur in establishing the wisdom 
of some distribution of duties, some division of spheres 
between the sexes. These two departments lie upon a 
common level. Though difterent in kind, they are equal 
or co-ordinate in rank. No one would disturb these natu- 
ral relations by absurd or chimerical changes, as they 
have all the sanctions which can consecrate time-hon- 
oured, and venerable usage. History, as I have said, 
no less than reason and nature points out the true rela- 
tions of man and woman, as well as the offices for which 
they were respectively designed. We need not penetrate 
far into the abstract and recondite causes of things to solve 
the problem of the real distinction which exists. W~e 
could as easily transmute one sex into another, as to re- 



8 PENNSYLVANIA 

verse the apjDropriate functions of either. We could as 
readily violate a j)hysical law of the world, as set at nought 
those moral rules which hold society together, and preserve 
it, in the beautiful harmony which now pervades it. 

In elucidation of this view, let us refer to ancient 
chronicle, where we can trace the condition of Woman as 
she existed in primitive times. — Lady Morgan exhibits 
her as the helpless subject of a cruel despot, the submissive 
slave of an imperious master, and attempts to show, that, 
in many ages, she has been treated with rigor, and in all, 
with injustice. Her opinion is, that modern society, by 
substituting refinement and courtesy, for cruelty and fierce- 
ness, has only brightened the links, .not broken the chain of 
her fetters. While Lady Morgan contends for her supre- 
macy in all the attributes of greatness, Mrs. Jamieson, in 
her Biography of Female Sovereigns, deserts her own order, 
upon the authority of the Lives she portrays, and insists 
upon the unfitness of woman for the task of government. — 
The opinion of Milton, as gathered from his description of 
Adam and Eve, is opposed to the idea of an equality of 
the sexes. 

" Not equal, as their sex not equal seemed. 
For valor he and contemplation formed ; 
For beauty she and sweet attractive grace." 

But the example of the great poet in the treatment of 
his wives, and the education of his daughters, imparts little 
value to his sentiments. He did not live happily in the 
conjugal state, and while he cultivated the widest regions 
of learning himself, his daughters, we are told, were unable 
to write. 

While English letters are adorned with so many beauti- 
ful performances in prose and verse by women, and even 



FEMALE COLLEGE. 9 

Englisli sciciwc has been illastratecl and enriched by a 
SoMJuiRviLLE, no One should dispute the claims of woman 
to eminence in the highest faculties of mind, or in grace- 
ful essays at authorshii). All readers know how many in- 
stances abound, in literary annals, of the aid which cele- 
brated male MTiters have derived from the tact, taste and 
ability of their wives, mothers and sisters. The curious 
may find in " Woman's Record:' by Mrs. Sarah J. Hale, 
of Philadelphia, a mine of female desert, which, in its 
facts and reflections, forms a monument as abounding and 
honorable to the ingenious and gifted authoress herself, as 
it will prove enduring to the great cause to which it is 
dedicated. 

Without borrowing our ideas of the lessons taught by 
history, either from Lady Morgan or IVIi's. Jamieson, we 
shall find woman from the earliest period of recorded time 
occupying the same position which she now does, in regard 
to a public career and the domestic household. 

We need not trace the liistory of Egypt or China, of 
Greece or Home, in order to fix the position which God, in 
his Providence, ordained for the two sexes in their relations 
with each other. Her condition may be ascertained from 
the pages of the Bible itself, before and since the Hood. 
A public career has not l)een assigned to her by the Deity, 
nor by the lips of inspired men, whether of prophets or 
apostles, either in the patriarchal ages, or in the Christian 
era. Trace the history of woman from the dawning of 
creation to the full blaze of Christianity, and her destiny, 
as prescribed hy God himself, will be found forever fixed 
and invariable, consentaneous with the laws of her physical 
and moral nature, with the dictates of refined reason, and 



10 TENXSYLVAKU 

the teachings of enlightened philosophy. She was to be 
the companion and helper of man. 

No truth is susceptible of higher or stronger verification 
than that furnished by the facts, in favor of this position. 
An identity of usage and sentiment among mankind in all 
ages, and in every country, upon one subject, however dis- 
cordant and contradictory their practices and opinions upon 
all others, should be a consideration of resistless force. In 
defence even of sound literature, we hal3itually refer to the 
agreement of successive ages of mankind in favor of the 
classical writers, as models of a pure taste. But on the sub- 
ject of the social condition of Woman, we go to a period 
antecedent to the classical writers. We include ages and 
countries to which classical literature was unknown. We 
deduce it from the earliest period of profane history, 
whether traditional or written; and above all, from the law 
of God as contained in the Bible — from the Creation to the 
time of Noah, and from the Levitical law of a later age to 
that of Christianity itself. 

There is a law, the law of capability or infirmity, which 
points out the fitness of things, and vindicates the wis- 
dom of the Creator in tue government of the world. That 
law, in denymg to woman the more rugged form of man, 
a cold and unimpassioned reason, an inductive power to 
exj)lore the secrets of nature by the slow but sure and 
certain processes of the understanding, has given to her 
greater personal l^eauty, a more delicate and complicated 
organization, a brighter perception, a nicer acuteness of 
feeling, better capacities of adaptation, and finer suscepti- 
bilities of taste. She excels in those arts which lead to 
the ornate, the beautiful and the tasteful. I would not be 



FEAIALE COLLEGE. 11 

understood to say that nature has not poured out to her 
in equal profusion, those high fjxculties with which man is 
endowed, for, I believe, many women have them all in an 
eminent degree. But it is evident, from the delicate tex- 
ture of her nervous system and the infirmities and disa- 
bilities resulting from her sex, that these powers are more 
limited in their range, or less under her control, or more 
affected or clouded by inimical and counteractino- influences. 
Man has the qualities which enable him to breast the 
storm, while Woman's genius enables her to embellish 
the retreats which form its sheltered coverts. The pre- 
cincts of private life and its sacred ministrations are the 
lot of one sex ; its struggles, combats, and externjil duties 
form more properly, the province of the other. — But on the 
other hand, is a being thus highly gifted and formed for 
these and even greater purposes, not to be trained and cul- 
tivated ? Because her person is cast in a finer mould, are 
its latent powers not to be brought out, and its fair proiDor- 
tions strengthened and developed? Is her spirit so etlie- 
rial as to bloom only in a genial sunshme, and not to be 
invigorated for the shade and the tempest ? Is it to be 
put to no valuable use ? 

<' Heaven doth with us as wo with torches do ; 

Not light them for themselves: for if our virtues 

Do not go forth of us, 'twere all alike 

As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touch-d, 

But to fine issues : nor nature ever lends 

The smallest scruple of her excellence, 

But like a thrifty goddess she determines 

Herself the glory of a creditor, — 

Both thanks and use." 

Woman has the distinction of beuig the second effort of 
Providence, brought forth not immediately from the grosser 
element of clay, Ixit from the more refined material made 



12 PENNS^LVA^'IA 

in the first process of creation. Man, from whom she de- 
rived the principle of form and vitality, has in turn, his 
nature purified by the association. Affections, for '^tlip.y 
twain shall he one flesh,'' thws grow up between the sexes, 
and the sturdy properties of man become more sublimated 
and divine, by habitual communion with a being more spir- 
itualized than himself. It requires but a glance at society, 
to see how Woman impresses herself on every thing around 
her, and how congenial or repugnant must be the influence 
she exerts, according as her faculties are stunted or full 
blown, exalted or depressed, in the scale of moral excel- 
lence. A brief survey will render this apparent. 

As the comjDanions of each other, she may correct the 
deficiencies of his character, and he may impart to her the 
aids which her sex and disabilities require. Retired from 
the more pubUc and busy scenes of life, she is less exposed 
to their contaminating and hardening influences. While 
a member of society, and enjoying the privileges and bene- 
fits it confers, she may shun its corruptions and come out, 
pure and unspotted from the world. From the clear instmcts 
of her moral sense, she instinctively perceives the dividing 
line of right and wrong, of truth and error. Removed from 
the emergencies and excitements of public afiairs, which too 
frequently obscure the moral perceptions and blunt the 
moral sensibilities of man, who so capable as an enlightened 
female friend, whether a wife, a mother or a sister, to keep 
him in the path of rectitude, to warn him of the point 
which bounds its limits, and marks any approach to devia- 
tion ? Where does a man naturally fly from the disap- 
pointments, vexations and troubles of the world ? He finds 
in the affections of Woman, the best solace for a wounded 



FEMALE COLLLIGE. 13 

spirit, the best saiictuaiy from the assaults of the im- 
friendl}'. It has been truly said, that a virtuous and en- 
lighteued wile " is a crown to her husband." 

Woman is the presiding Deity of the household. The 
inferior genii imbibe her spirit, and become in obedience 
to it, the bright agents of Heaven for the diffusion of its 
blessings, or malignant demons of mischief to poison the 
atmosphere of domestic joy. The household Gods — the 
Penates and the Lares of the ancients — were either pro- 
pitious and benevolent, or unkind and cruel, according to 
the affections of the wife or the mother who ruled the 
establishment. The domestic principality presents a scene 
of order or chaos, of beauty or ugliness, as her spirit is 
elevated or ignoble. 

No one can go abroad in society without feeling the 
social influence of Woman. Unseen she often forms the 
opinions, and moulds the character of her husband. Her 
children inhale the very breathings of her soul, and what 
she is for good or for evil, they permanently become. 

Education, to be valuable, should be appropriate. We 
find Woman fitted by nature for the retired walks of life, 
and endowed by a bountiful Providence with the most 
beautiful and delicate germs of character. Her trainino- 
then, to render her happy in herself and useful to others, 
should fit her for those practical and domestic duties which 
she is called upon to discharge in life. 

Young ladies now grow^ up without much attention being 
given to their physical developement or mental training. 
Their minds are generally undisciplined by the study of 
any one subject, sufficiently long to make them thoroughly 
acquainted with it. The powers of the understanding are 



14 TENNSYLYANIA 

never excited into vigorous play ; and those tendencies of 
the female sex, which, if properly kept in reserve, would 
aid its acquisitions, are alone called forth at the expense of 
every other. A delicate organization, a frame- work of 
nerves so adjusted by nature as to vibrate to every emotion, 
renders her pecuHarly under the dominion of her feelings 
and sensibihties. She is so organized, that she cannot be 
insensible to influences either to disturb or excite her, 
which would pass away without ruffling the bosom of her 
male companion. 

A proj^er education, by invigorating her body and calling 
forth the exercise of her reason and understanding, woidd 
prevent the excess or counteract the effect of these ten- 
dencies. But with no knowledge of practical affairs, or of 
the household, with a little arithmetic and less history, a 
slight knowledge of language and less natural phibsophy, 
she is sent forth into the world. Her accomplishments 
consist of dancmg and a smattering of music. With a 
natural tendency to prefer works of fancy to any effort of 
the miderstanding, without greater assistance from training 
than the ricketty system in vogue, is she not at the mercy 
of every whim, and the sport and plaything of every im- 
pulse ? Is she not, while indeed a woman, only " a child 
of larger growth," super-adduig to the innocent and aim- 
less frivolities of childhood, the follies and vanities of age ? 
She has been taught to lay greater stress upon appearances 
and externals than they really deserve, in a fair estimate 
of comparative values. 

It cannot be supposed that a woman thus unprepared for 
all the serious duties of life, can have an adequate concep- 
tion of what they consist. How can she discharge the 



FEMALE COLLEGE. 15 

exalted functions of her lot ? What hope has her husband 
in the continuance of those aflections which are as slight 
as the frame-work of her mental being ; as superficial as 
her general attainments? What qualifications does she 
present to fulfil that high vocation of a mother, " to teach 
the young idea how to shoot, " or to take her position in 
society, as one that should adorn, embellish and improve 
it ? So far as her influence in society extends, it is injurious. 
She has not the materials of thought. Her mind, from 
neglect, has become a thin and unfruitful soil, without 
strength or depth, yielduig only a wilderness of brambles, 
intermingled with a few stray wild-flowers. Society, under 
such a directress must have a low standard ; it becomes as 
frivolous and superficial as herself, and with mean auiis, 
degrades its votaries. 

Life has been to her a dreamy and shadowy land. She 
has never been awakened to a full sense of its solemn 
realities. Removed from the world, she leaves no foot- 
print upon its neglected sands. Her flight through exist- 
ence has been like the path of an arrow, unmarked by a 
trace of its passage. 

CowPER, in his Letters, ingeniously exj^lains the descrip- 
tion, the lueaker vessel, as applied to Woman, by those other 
words of scripture, that she is "made perfect in weakness.''^ 
True to her allotted sphere, she could attain a degree of 
perfection, I devoutly believe, only a " little lower than 
the angels." Proper culture and corresponding good works 
would multiply the motives to her own self-respect, and 
secLU'e for her a station of simple dignity, the most exalted 
of human beings. Instead of visionary aims at the im- 
provement of female rights, she should essay to raise the 



1 6 PENNSYLVANIA 

standard of feminine value. Tliis is the true mode of pro- 
tecting society from the silly attempts to mvest her with 
political rights, and of guarding her and society from the 
fiital error of trying to unhinge the decrees of fate, and 
alter the fiat of irreversible destiny. Such attempts cannot 
be successful. They would subvert the designs of Provi- 
dence, and make the world a chaos. 

Let us take a broad view of her real, not her fanciful 
duties. Perhaps the closest and most endearing relations 
of life spring out of the conjugal and maternal affections. 
Let any man put it to himself how far he can withstand 
the wishes of his wife, and the tears of his mother ! The 
most obdurate will would be broken, the firmest grasp re- 
laxed, under the potency of either influence. Look at the 
example of Coriolanus — a man of unusual impetuosity 
of temper, of a stubborn and iron will, maddened by the 
injustice of his countrymen, flushed with victory, and at 
the very gates of Rome, with a numerous and unconquered 
army. His resentment, his pride, his ambition, are all on 
the eve of being gratified by the signal humiliation of his 
enemies. Appeals in behalf of his bleeding country were 
made by his old friends and former compatriots ; deputa- 
tions from the Senate, with every circumstance to propiti- 
ate his favor, were sent in vain. These appeals and dej^u- 
tations, so far from mitigating the fell spirit of his venge- 
ance, seemed only to renew and quicken his anger. Rome 
would soon have been a heap of smouldering embers, and 
the Volscians would have triumphed over the imperial mis- 
tress ot the world. But that haughty spirit which could 
not be reached by the principle of patriotism, nor subdued 
by the prayers of his country, was humbled and emascu- 



FEMALE COLLEGE. 17 

lated by the wishes of his wift and mother. Historians 
tell us, that Volurania and Vetruria clad in mourning, pro^ 
-ceeded to his camp, and effected the object of their mission 
by inducing their husband and son to withdraw his forces 
iand abandon his enterprise. 

He could smile proudly at the supplications of his country, 
■iind brave the inflimy to which her historians would con* 
sign him, but he could not withstand the influence of two 
Avomen. Forgetful of his own fate, as compliance, he 
knew, would involve his honor and his life, oblivious of his 
resentments for an unmerited exile, and deaf to that ambition 
which had been the governing principle of his career, he 
yielded child-like, to their remonstrances. 

Instances as remarkable, can be cited from the records 
of the teeming past, which slioW that female influence has 
done more towards directing or subduing the energies of 
man, than all other agencies put together. But the mi'seen 
■effect of a mother's sentiments, in forming the chataCter of 
her child through life, is more momentous than influencing 
him in the performance of a single action. Biography 
proves the deep impress made by the mind of the mother, 
\ipon that of her child. We not unfrequently see the son 
of an illustrious father pursuing an ordinary and even a 
mean career. The apparent mystery is explained by the 
-character of the mother, whose mental condition is gener-ally 
inlierited or imbibed. Look abroad through life and 
literature, and yoia will find few men -of superior intellect, 
without tlie advantage of superior mothers. How just a 
subject of noble, matronly pride is it, to have instilled those 
seminal principles of goodness and greatness into the hearts 
of the ycung, which wall germinate into fruits of useful 
and honorable maturity ! Who does not sympathise with 



18 I'ENKSYLVAMA 

the swelling breast of the gifted and accomplished Coii^~£LIA, 
who, when other women were displaying their bijouterie 
of gems and diamonds, nobly produced her two boys, as the 
lichest jewels she had in her power to exhibit ? 

If then, I be asked the proper sphere of Woman, and 
wdiere I would place her, the answer is at hand. Fioni 
her nature and organization she proves herself to be 

" born to dignify retreat, 

Unseen to fiom-ish and unknown be great !" 

I would exempt her from the active cares of political 
life, while I would invest her with the greater honours of 
its wise and just administration. She would form those 
who take with its powers, the responsibilities' and troubles 
of political oSice. 

If man be the active governor, woman is the true mother 
of the state. She it is who is the real agent of the glory 
of man, and hers the plastic hand to mould him for the 
purposes of the nation. If we would have rulers worthy 
of their high vocation ; — if we would have " virtue and 
intelligence " as the distinguishing attributes of our citizens, 
we must elevate the mental, the moral, the religious con- 
dition of woman. While the political husbandmen ot other 
nations are intent only upon preserving the weedy and 
worn-out distinctions of social rank, let our aim be to culti- 
vate the soil of the mind and heart of all classes. Let the 
praise of our national tillage l^e this, 

" Man is the nobler growth our soil supplies, 
And souls are ripened in our westera skies." 

Such products when comjoared at the great Crystal Palace 
of Heaven, with the dead or unprofitable fruits of other 
climes, would carry off the prize ! — In surveying the state 
of our country, it cannot be denied that we are exposed to 



FEMALE COLLEGE. 19 

two peculiar evils. One results from the freedom of our 
political institutions, the other is repugnant to them, 
and from its tendencies, may, unchecked, prove the grave 
of the liberties which form our national boast. I allude 
to the contest for place, as evinced in the spirit of part}^, 
and to the progress of luxury. 

It is sometimes amusing to witness the contentions of 
politicians about matters, extremelv insignificant. One 
cannot analize these causes of strife, or adequately account 
for their existence, by contemplating the subject-matter. 
The fuel which supplies this flame is the spirit of party in 
some, and the ambition of place in others. Such has been, 
in some instances, the restlesness of ambitious leaders in 
our great country, that we hardly know to what extremi- 
ties their insane violence would lead them, if they were 
not curbed by the good sense, or repressed by the im- 
movable aj^athy of the masses. There cannot be a doubt, 
that the best interests of this country, have been endan- 
gered hy the selfish ambition of such unbridled excesses. 
These sallies are manifested by extreme pro-slavery 
doctrines at the South, and the insanity of fanatical aboli- 
tion doctrines at the North, — ahke opposed to the freedom 
and the spirit of the Constitution. These discussions and 
measures disturb the harmony of intercourse between 
different sections of our country ; lay waste that friendly 
and fraternal spirit which ought to subsist between the 
different States of the Union ; and are sowing the seeds of 
jealousies and feuds which will weaken, if they do not 
finally sever, the national bond. It is in the power ot our 
well-educated countrywomen, instead of fanning the flame 
of discord, which is so much the wont of some impulsi%'e and 
untrained spirits of their sex, to extinguish the malignant 



20 PENNSYLVANIA 

torch vvliich is consuming our patriotic S3anpathies, and 
threatens to involve distant parts of our happy land in a 
general blaze. Let it be the diligent business of the 
scholars of this Institution when they emerge from the 
covert of its bowery by-paths, to lend their aid to the ex- 
tinction of these heresies of sentiment, on both sides, as so 
many blasphemies against the Constitution itself 

The universal prevalence of luxury, fostered in the large 
cities by the increase of wealth, and spread through our 
wide empire by the telegraph, the press, the railway, and 
the steamer, threatens to over-turn the simplicity of our 
ancient manners. It was the glory of the' ancient time, to 
be as distinguished from other nations for simplicity and 
frugality of living, as for simplicity of political principles. 
The truthful essays and sage maxims of Dr. Franklin, so 
well recommended by his example, and so beautifully illus- 
trated in his life, did much to preserve these early habits. 
But emulation to outvie each other in elegant mansions, in 
gaudy furniture, in splendid equipage, in expensive enter- 
tainments, in works of elaborate art, in rich and costly 
jewelry, are now the besetting sins of the land. Great 
opulence and elegant tastes only have a right to these 
luxuries. Where the mind is untrained to forms of grace 
and beauty, indulgence is but another name for parade and 
ostentation. Where the expense is too great for the for- 
tune, extravagance sinks into criminality. But from the 
equality of our social state, the disposition to rival and 
surpass one's neighbor, is the universal passion — regard- 
less of expense, or the consequences of proving unequal to 
sustain the race. When a certain style is adopted, the 
struggle is to maintain it, at whatever cost of exertion — 
frequently to the ruin of health, and at the sacrifice of 



Fi':\[ALi': roLLEG'f:, 21 

piinciple and honor. It is to this Upas tree of evil that 
we trace the root of those (lisgraceiul bankruptcies, those 
official delinquencies, those immense and gigantic frauds, 
which have ruined families and spread desolation and dis- 
tress through whole communities. 

The mischiefs of luxury in producing effeminacy of 
character and degradation of principle, stand out cunspi- 
cuousl}' upon the historic canvass of all nations. The 
severe austerity of the great SiDartan law giver, preserved 
the liberties of his country for seven hundred years. His 
regulations were not abolished until the intlax of luxury 
debased the standard of Lacedemonian virtue. Athenian 
integrity became the prey of the same ruthless monster. 
And so of Rome, where, indeed, everj- vice which pride 
could suggest, or avarice and ;irtificial want could covet, 
was let loos3 upon society uncontrolled l^y shame, and 
unrestrained by fear. The age of Cataline was redeemed 
by the virtue and integrity of Cicero ; but from his time, 
and before it, to the incursions of the barbarous tribes who 
were invited by the effeminate licentiousness of these 
haughty conquerors of the world, excessive voluptuousness 
had struck from the catalogue of Homan qualities, every 
manly or magnanimous trait. Plutarch informs us, that, 
in the early times of ancient Britain, such were the tem- 
perance and simplicity of the early inhabitants, that they 
did not begin to grow old, until they attained the age of 
more than a century. The effects of luxurious refinement 
in the British isles, surpassing as it now does, in elaborate 
con'/eniences and artificial excess, the wildest flight of 
Oriental fable, are visible in the destitution and misery of 
the lower classes, and the unnatural struggle rendered 
necessary among the higher. 



22 PENNSYLVANIA . 

Now, it may be deemed discourteous and ungallant, if 
not unjust, to charge any considerable portion of these evils 
upon Woman. But more examination will discover, that 
she is, by no means, exempt from the imputation of foster- 
ing a tendency to expense and luxury. Her education 
hitherto has made her dwell upon the surface of society. 
She is pleased with external show, and to a certain extent, 
maybe obnoxious to the unworthy stigma of her satirist — 
that "like moth," she is ever caught by "glare.'' 

When this College and others like it, shall have done 
their perfect work. Woman will stem the progress of this 
blighting mildew upon the fair garden of our republic. If 
she prefer the simple virtues ; if her taste rest rather in 
the real than the seeming; if she encourage her husband, 
her brother, her friend, to discard useless glitter and fas- 
tidious ornaments; if she adopt frugal comforts befitting 
his lot ; if, above all, she inculcate the sentiment, that one 
of the cardinal duties of a man and a citizen, is to live 
within his means, she will do a greater good to societ}^ 
than by becoming eligible to political office. — Wise 
considerations of impropriety and unfitness have exempted 
her from the strife and melee of party controversies or 
political conflict. The salique law of France, which ex- 
cluded Woman from the succession, is not less applicable 
to a free republic than it was to an absolute monarchy. 
The power of election implies the burdens of protection 
and defence. If she emerge into public life, she may have 
to wear the tarpaulin and mount the musket. Her 
honors might extend from the station of a sailor, to the 
post of Captain or Commodore in one of our line of battle- 
ships, and from the place of a common soldier, to the 
redoubtable functions of leader or commander of the 



FEMALE COLLEGE. Zo 

American armies. Nay, in the distribution of j^olitical 
duties, we could not confer upon one woman the rights of 
President of this nation, without per-ad venture making 
a constable of another ! To give to her either, would soon 
become a subject of complaint, rather an oppression than a 
right, a Iiardship than a privilege. 

An ancient fable informs us of a second invocation being 
made to Jupiter, to restore these miseries which he had once 
been prayed to relieve. The spirit of that ancient fable 
would te exemplified in the discontent of Woman. Those 
privileges which result from disability, the noble courtesy, 
the willing homage, which are now spontaneous and cordial, 
would be no more. These would be changed into the 
doctrine of absolute right and perfect equality. The 
two sexes would stand upon a common level, where, 
as gladiators in a vast arena, they would confront each 
other to decide the chances of life. Evils would issue 
from that contest more blighting to the best interests of 
creation than were the thick locusts of Egypt to its fruits y 
ills more numerous and baleful than those which escaped 
from the direful box of Pandora, unmitigated by the Ho-pe 
which rested at its bottom ! 



iPFoeiEii m im eidLre 



William BIGLER, PREsiDKXToftlie Board of Trustees. 

A. 0. HIESTER, Treasurer. 

B. R. WAUGH, Skcretart. 

BOARD 0? TRUSTEES. 

WILLIAM BIGLER, Governor orthe Commonwealth, ex officio. 
CHARLES A. BLACK, Sii]jerintendent of Common Schools, exofficio% 

A. 0. HIESTER, Post Office, Harrisburg. 
JOHN MAGLAUGHLIN, " 
BENJAMIN" PARKE, '< 
JOHN J. CLYDE, « 
ROBERT J. ROSS, « 
STEPHEN MILLERj 

daniel w. gross, « 

Hamilton alricks, « 

robert a. lamberton, " 

JOHN H. BRIGGS, 
WILLIAM DOCK, « 

JOHN B. COX, « 

E. M. POLLOCK, « 

SIMON CAMiERON, Middletown, 

C. E. BLUMENTHAL, Carlisle. 
O. H. TIFFANY, 

JOHN M'CLINTOCK, " 
JAMES BUCHANAN, Lancaster. 
JOHN WEIDMAN, Lebanon. 
LE7I KLINE, " 

WILLIAM H. ALLEN, Philadelphia^ 
JOB R. TYSON, « 

PRINCIPAL OF TilE COLLEGE. 

B. R. WAUGH, A. M., (late of Baltimore Female College.) 



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